tips Domain negotiation : Dealing with the buyer’s limited budget

[Arpit131]

Here is a great article on negotiation, published on Acro.net
Since the article is very very informative containing personal sales references by Acro, I have shared the complete article here:


"When negotiating on a domain sale, one of the most challenging moments is when the interested party declares the domain as being beyond their budget.

Depending on the domain’s valuation, you might have the ability to offer the asset at a discount.

However, it’s best not to do that right away, or even at all, and here’s why.

First and foremost, your goal is to maximize your return on investment.

You can only sell the domain once, and your asking price might eventually arrive from a different party, other than the one whose budget doesn’t stretch that far.

There are times, however, when a tweaked offer can increase your chances of completing a sale, and there are a couple of ways to achieve this.

An option would be to offer the domain with a payment plan. Lease-to-own options can materialize via Escrow.com, that offers such plans at a minimal cost.

Dealing with the buyer’s limited budget can also be handled by seeking equityin their planned ventures.

Quite often, start-ups or small ventures don’t have all the capital they need up front, but getting the perfect domain can take them to the next step up: getting venture capital. A great example of this was my sale of 100.org.

Depending on your ability to demonstrate the value of the domain to the buyer, you might be able to convince them to shift funds from a different part of the business towards the domain’s acquisition.

Emphasize the fact that domain acquisition costs are valid business expenses, at taxation time.

Lastly, you can offer additional services into the deal. These can range from professional services such as development, design, branding or SEO, to sharing the news of the upcoming service within your community.

A limited budget is also an opportunity to sharpen your negotiation skills.Don’t opt for one-liners, have a conversation with your buyer – they have the money, and you have the domain."


Source

Any other negotiation tips that you would like to add or share any of your experiences, that would be beneficial for the community, please share in the comments below.

 

[rokaska7]

If only I could have seen this article a few days before. Thanks for sharing.

 

[WatchDogue]

Nice article on dealing with / overcoming a buyer's common objection to a domain's asking price.

 

[jideofor]

Well, I am in a fix right now. I reach out to end user and I want them to make an offer. How do I achieve this? They do not want to make the first offer even though I requested for it.

Any help?

 

[DreamZ55]

I had a $xxx,xxx domain that eventually sold for $xx,xxx . The buyer kept saying he had limited budget. Sale started at small $xxx offer then next at $x,xxx to another higher $x,xxx offer then finally a $xx,xxx offer . Each time the buyer said he had limited budget and was at his max on the last 3 offers and the last $xx,xxx but i countered back after squeezing and adding some more Benjamins to deal. Later on I found out who the buyer was and believe me he would have had no problem buying for 7 figures if he wanted to. I think he would have bought my domain for what ever price I wanted, but he got a huge discount. I should not have accepted his offer, but I did accept to say the least. He had nothing to loose as he kept working me down, even if I said no, he would only counter back with new offer, he was bluffing the entire time about his max budget, he was hard to read while negotiation...Bottom line is that rich people want best deal they can get, even if they are billionaires. If your confident in your domain value and know what you want for it, never settle or take less. The very final offer he said he would go no more , either deal or no deal...I accepted after countering by adding some Benjamins to sweeten the deal. I did not want to loose this deal or scare buyer away but I know my domain was worth alot more... at end of day i should have rejected offer and held at my $xxx,xxx buy now......after finding who the buyer was, he probably would have bought my domain for my asking price of $xxx,xxx if only I would have held firm, I believe I would have had my $xxx,xxx offer finally come through from this buyer.
ahhhhh Got to love Domaining! : ))
Domain is confidential and final price .

 

[ZapNano]

I had a $xxx,xxx domain that eventually sold for $xx,xxx . The buyer kept saying he had limited budget. Sale started at small $xxx offer then next at $x,xxx to another higher $x,xxx offer then finally a $xx,xxx offer . Each time the buyer said he had limited budget and was at his max on the last 3 offers and the last $xx,xxx but i countered back after squeezing and adding some more Benjamins to deal. Later on I found out who the buyer was and believe me he would have had no problem buying for 7 figures if he wanted to. I think he would have bought my domain for what ever price I wanted, but he got a huge discount. I should not have accepted his offer, but I did accept to say the least. He had nothing to loose as he kept working me down, even if I said no, he would only counter back with new offer, he was bluffing the entire time about his max budget, he was hard to read while negotiation...Bottom line is that rich people want best deal they can get, even if they are billionaires. If your confident in your domain value and know what you want for it, never settle or take less. The very final offer he said he would go no more , either deal or no deal...I accepted after countering by adding some Benjamins to sweeten the deal. I did not want to loose this deal or scare buyer away but I know my domain was worth alot more... at end of day i should have rejected offer and held at my $xxx,xxx buy now......after finding who the buyer was, he probably would have bought my domain for my asking price of $xxx,xxx if only I would have held firm, I believe I would have had my $xxx,xxx offer finally come through from this buyer.
ahhhhh Got to love Domaining! : ))
Domain is confidential and final price .

Was it .org?

 

[DreamZ55]

it was a .com not a short name but also not too long of a name... uncommon word, more of a brandable, but a premium name for king brand

 

[Name Trader]

it was a .com not a short name but also not too long of a name... uncommon word, more of a brandable, but a premium name for king brand

Was it bought by a domainer or end-user?

 

[DreamZ55]

It was purchased by chairman of one of the largest if not the largest online company, I know he most likely would have paid my asking price of $xxx,xxx but at time I did not know who buyer was + he kept saying was at max budget and finally said deal or no deal, but I know he was bluffing whole time, he just wanted to pay as little as possible. He had nothing to lose and all to gain. He said was wanting to invest and get into the domain industry. Not sure if the domain will be used by his company or if its for his own personal use. He got a super cheap discount no were near my asking price . I decided to sale anyways as name was more of a brandable but at same time I felt was worth alot more because it was an amazing name. Now looking back I am almost certain he would have purchased at asking price if would have held firm...Anyways I seen this thread and thought I would comment. Sometimes its really hard to tell a domain value and what someone may pay for it. I didnt want to lose a sale because the offer was decent, and was unsure if would ever get another good as offer , so i let it go.

 

[wormfood]

It was purchased by chairman of one of the largest if not the largest online company, I know he most likely would have paid my asking price of $xxx,xxx but at time I did not know who buyer was + he kept saying was at max budget and finally said deal or no deal, but I know he was bluffing whole time, he just wanted to pay as little as possible. He had nothing to lose and all to gain. He said was wanting to invest and get into the domain industry. Not sure if the domain will be used by his company or if its for his own personal use. He got a super cheap discount no were near my asking price . I decided to sale anyways as name was more of a brandable but at same time I felt was worth alot more because it was an amazing name. Now looking back I am almost certain he would have purchased at asking price if would have held firm...Anyways I seen this thread and thought I would comment. Sometimes its really hard to tell a domain value and what someone may pay for it. I didnt want to lose a sale because the offer was decent, and was unsure if would ever get another good as offer , so i let it go.

Do you mind if I ask what range your acquisition cost was in? And when you acquired it?
Just curious

 

[DreamZ55]

I paid low $x,xxx about 4 years ago for name ,then flipped for 10x what i paid for it